Parting Ways
by HydeLuver
Summary: The dissolution of a marriage is never easy. Bori one-shot.


**Author's Note: Every time I say I'm going to take a break, I end up getting an idea and having to write it. Luckily, this time it's a short one. Hope you all enjoy it. I apologize beforehand for any errors in the story, it's pretty late.**

Sitting behind the large wooden desk, she realizes that things are moving faster than she can process them. As people shuffle in and out of the room and papers are discarded in every direction, her mind spins and she has more thoughts than she can deal with at the moment. "Sign here" "read this" "what do you think?" they all demand of her and none of it makes sense. She can't make out what she's signing or reading and she sure as hell has no idea what any of it means.

Across from her, two men in matching black suits and dark ties go through a lengthy document and she suddenly can't take her eyes off of them. The one on the right has his own pile of pages and every time he flips to the next one, he nods his head to no one in particular. The smaller man sitting next to him is rapidly moving his index finger across the paper, almost as if he's reading at super speed. She squints her eyes slightly, wondering how effective his method is. Only once in the thirty minutes she's been in the room did they acknowledge her presence.

Frankly, everyone around her seems to be at ease and completely detached from the task at hand. While her heart is beating twice its normal speed, these people are checking off points, tossing around figures and trying to negotiate property values. None of them bother to ask her any questions or care about how she is holding up. Surely, they have all done this enough times that her case is nothing special.

Except that to her, this is out of the ordinary and a huge deal. It's not every day she finds herself in a room full of lawyers, unsure of what direction her life is about to take. After thirteen years of marriage and two children, she is about to be a single mother. Somehow, even after a seven month separation, she can't wrap her head around the fact that her family has fallen apart and she's going to have to pick up the pieces of her former life and figure out how to move on.

After a painful struggle to keep her marriage in tact, and an even more difficult legal separation, Tori has come to terms that she will have to get out into the world the same way she came into it: Alone. Every day, she tries to convince herself that things are fine and that the marriage has simply prepared her for something better down the road, but no matter how many times she tells herself this, she ends up curled up on the sofa, feeling sorry for herself.

While her soon-to-be ex-husband assures her that what they are doing is for the best, she can't help but doubt that. How can it possibly be a good idea to break up their family? Sure their relationship had been spiraling out of control for a while, but they should be able to try harder, if not for them then for their little boys. She can't imagine them coping well with the fact that their father, who has always been there for them, will no longer be just down the hall. Now he would across town and they can only see him on weekends and every other Wednesday.

Tori scoffs as her lawyer slides over another stack of papers for her to look through, this one with the subtitle "Custody Order" and her kid's names listed below. Her husband's signature is already there, right below a blank line where she is to sign her own name. For a second, she thinks about her options and what will happen if she doesn't sign. How much longer can she drag out this divorce and maybe give him a chance to change his mind?

She instantly shakes the thought out of her mind and quickly reads through the rest of the paper and neatly swerves the pen along the line. She stares at her signature for a moment and sighs. Each paper she signs takes her one step closer to being a divorcee.

Tori puts the cap back on the pen and begins tapping it softly against the desk. Just as she starts getting lost in the shuffle going on around her, she feels her lawyer's hand resting on hers and she looks up at the older gentleman. For the very first time, he offers her a reassuring smile and as she gives him one in return, he squeezes her hand gently before letting go.

After some time, and various signatures later, she looks down at her watch and notices that her ex-husband is almost forty-five minutes late. They had agreed to sit together with their lawyers in case any last minute negotiations turn up and to sign the divorce papers. She becomes anxious that he might not show since she has to pick up the boys in just under an hour.

"Okay so we just have to get these papers into the system and have you both sign the divorce form and that will be it" her lawyer turns to her and says.

_That will be it. _The end of a thirteen year marriage, the end of the happy memories of her "perfect" little family and the end of legal fees. Tori nods her head in understanding. As she sits there surrounded by suits and ties, she tries to think about her happiest memory with him. Immediately, she thinks about the day her oldest son was born.

After a hard eighteen hour labor, she laid exhausted in the hospital bed. Her hair matted and the IVs made her feel cold. As uncomfortable as she felt at the time, all that mattered then was watching her husband sitting across from her with their newborn son wrapped in his arms. She watched as he lovingly stared at the baby, cooing and caressing his smooth cheeks. She can remember being in a trance as she saw the adoration in her husband's eyes and at that moment she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

Memories of birthday parties and quiet anniversaries spent at home fill her mind and she has to remind herself not to smile and appear goofy in front of the other people in the room.

Suddenly, the door at the end of the room flings open and in he walks. Looking every bit as casual as ever, he walks towards the group and exchanges pleasantries as though he's right on time. His lawyer motions towards an empty chair at the end of the table, just a few seats across from her, and he strolls over to it and sits. Seemingly unfazed by the situation, he reaches over to a paper his lawyers gives him.

Right before he analyzes it, he raises his eyes to meet hers and smiles sadly at her. Tori nods her head in acknowledgment and smiles when he mouths the words "you look beautiful." She continues to look on as he lowers his gaze and studies the paper in front of him. She is impressed by how quickly his lawyer brings him up to speed on everything and how calmly he reacts to the news that the divorce papers are ready to be signed.

"Whenever you're ready" his lawyer states a few minutes later, holding up a large manila folder.

Tori's heart stops for a moment as she realizes that this is it. The moment she has been dreading for seven months has finally arrived and now there is no changing of the mind. She will actually be walking out of here by herself. She will finally have to remove the silver band that has been adorning her finger for over a decade.

Time seems to come to a stop and as the lawyer starts opening up the folder, she hears his voice from across the room.

"Actually, can we have a minute?" he says to everyone in the room.

The suits curiously look at each other and then at her. She nods her head and slowly, one by one, they exit the room.

Once the door closes behind the last man, she leans back on the chair and lets out a breath she didn't realize she had been holding. Silently, she watches as he reaches over to the center of the table and grabs the manila folder his lawyer left behind. Her eyes widen as he tears it open and pulls the various sheets of paper out.

His eyes move from side to side and she can tell he's slowly reading the words on the page. She smiles sadly as he nods a few times and arches his eye brows.

"Looks good?" she finally asks. He takes his eyes off the page and looks at her, a small chuckle escaping his lips.

"I'm not sure what it's supposed to look like to be honest" he responds.

Tori laughs and shakes her head. Of course he doesn't, it is the first divorce for both of them after all, hopefully the last.

"How are you feeling?" he asks her while putting the pages back on the table.

"Honestly?" she asks, sitting forward on her chair.

"Of course" he replies, matching her motion and folding his hands across the table.

"I don't feel anything. Well, more like I'm numb and I can't process feelings you know?" she asks.

He simply nods his head. She rolls her eyes playfully as he motions his hands for her to continue. "I just didn't think we would be here. I mean, obviously I've had time to prepare for it, but it's never been this real. I'll be alright though" she finishes, taking her eyes off of him and looking towards the papers in front of him.

How the hell can a few pages have so much power? Before this, paper was just a medium in which he wrote her love letters or songs. The blue horizontal lines always brought joy to her life and let her know that he truly loved her. Now, however, they are serving the opposite purpose and destroying everything she's worked so hard to build.

"I hope you don't hate me for doing this Tor. I know you probably won't believe me but it's hard for me to go through with this also" he says.

"Then why are we doing this?" she replies, finally looking up at him. It can't possibly be all that hard for him since he's the one who initiated the whole proceeding.

"I think it's easy to remember all the good things when you're sitting here. So much easier than thinking about the hard times."

Tori furrows her forehead and thinks about what he's saying. Of course she looks fondly on their good times together, that still doesn't tell her why they're sitting here. Every couple has rough times, they are no different. Contrary to what others thing, they weren't the perfect couple, but in no way were heading towards a divorce. At least she didn't think so anyway.

"So it got too hard, is that what you're saying?" she says bitterly.

"Don't do that Tori. I love you and the boys very much and this isn't about me giving up on us. We were just so young when we got married and we're different now."

Tori rolls her eyes. Having gotten pregnant at nineteen and married at twenty, she always knew they were way too young, but it never stopped her from fighting to keep her family together. Even when they were barely scraping by and it seemed that they would have to crawl back to their parents for help, she fought tooth and nail to find solutions for them. For him to sit there, thirteen years later, and pull this card doesn't make any sense to her.

"Whatever Beck" she says. Tori stands up from her chair and leans across the table until she can grab hold of the folder in front of him. Once the pages are in her hand, she sits back down and studies them. Every term and condition they have agreed on is printed neatly on the pages and as she carefully reads the details of the conditions, she feels his piercing eyes burning a hole through her skin. Unfortunately for him, she doesn't look up.

"If this is what you want," she begins as she reaches for a pen, "then I have no choice but to grant it to you." She turns to the last few pages and signs her name neatly on the line.

"Tor" he says getting up from his seat as soon as she places the pen back on the table. He walks around to her side and sits on a chair, sliding it closer to hers. He moves his face mere inches from hers and takes her hands in his. As soon as they come in contact, tears stream down her face and he pulls her close towards him.

"Shh, come here" he says as he runs his hand up and down her back to soothe her.

"I can't believe this is happening" she says in between sobs.

"I'm sorry. Baby, I'm so sorry" he whispers. His guilt instantly tugs at his heart and he hates that he's causing her pain. He's always promised to never hurt her and now that is exactly what he's doing. Not only is he causing her pain, but he's breaking up his family. As a father of two, can he truly be this selfish?

Tori gently pushes her body away from him and sits upright on her chair. She lifts her hands to her face to wipe away the tears. Not able to look into his eyes, she instead looks down at the paper where her signature is printed clearly. She can't believe she's actually gone through with it. She took the most dreadful step and now all that is missing is his signature under hers and everything she's known for the last thirteen years will be over.

Beck drops her hands and follows her gaze to the papers. He frowns at the loops that form her name on the crisp white paper. Even now, as she endures the hardest moment of her life, she thinks about what he wants. She didn't sign the papers for herself, she did it for him.

He quickly looks up at her and sees a few more tears rolling down her cheek. He reaches over to her face and wipes them off. Beck stands up from his chair and leans down, bringing his face mere centimeters from hers.

"I love you" he says.

Tori lowers her eyes and stares at her hands which are now resting on her lap. She can't look at him without completely falling apart. She closes her eyes, anxiously awaiting him to sign the papers and walk out of the room, leaving behind all traces of their life together.

Instead, she hears the loud tearing of papers and her head quickly shoots up. There, on the table, are the divorce papers, split right down the middle. Her jaw drops open and she looks up at him. A smirk is on his face and his eyes radiate an intensity she hasn't seen in months.

"Let's go" he simply says.

Tori looks back at the ripped document in front of her and then back at her husband. In an instant, all the happiness that had left her months prior returns and she jumps off the chair and into his arms. "I love you" she tells him.

His smirk turns into a wide smile and he closes the gap between them, bringing their lips together for the first time in months.

Working through their issues will not be easy, but it will certainly be worth it.


End file.
